New to football just three years ago, the 6-foot-5, 271-pound defender from the African country of Ghana is an eye-popping curiosity to the pro football world.

“I couldn’t wait to see him at the Senior Bowl,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said.

Soccer was Ansah’s first sports love, basketball claimed him next and football grabbed him last, but only after he twice failed to make Brigham Young University’s basketball team.

Just last season, he made his first start, at defensive end, yet now there’s speculation he’ll go second in the NFL draft, to the Jaguars, or fourth to the Eagles, or sixth to the Browns or ninth to the Jets – or, forget it.

The draftniks don’t know when Ansah will be taken, and maybe NFL teams don’t either.

He’s drawn comparisons to long-armed, supple pass rushers such as Jason Pierre-Paul and Aldon Smith, who were thought raw when the NFL drafted them but as rookies overmatched veteran blockers and engulfed quarterbacks.

Then again, Ansah started only nine games and looked unrefined. He tired quickly. For all his power and speed, he didn’t show a super-quick first step.

He’s the mysterious, beguiling Z.

Be excited, but be prepared to be patient. "I don't think there is anybody in the NFL that doesn't think he's going to be a good player,” said Mayock, who wasn't keen on Ansah's Senior Bowl performances. “But the question is, when? Is it this year, next year or three years from now?’’

Skeptics? Ansah welcomes them.

"There’s a lot of people who have doubts about me, and that’s what I love,” he said. “I just want to prove you wrong.”